BCH CODE

Code for the Construction and Equipment of

Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk

2008 Edition

London, 2009
 First published in 1972
by the INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION
4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR
www.imo.org

Ninth edition 2008

Printed in the United Kingdom by CPI Books Limited, Reading RG1 8EX

ISBN: 978-92-801-1509-3

IMO PUBLICATION
Sales number: IC772E

Copyright # International Maritime Organization 2009

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
without prior permission in writing from the
International Maritime Organization.

This publication has been prepared from official documents of IMO, and every effort has been made
to eliminate errors and reproduce the original text(s) faithfully. Readers should be aware that,
in case of inconsistency, the official IMO text will prevail.
 CONTENTS

Page
Foreword ....................................................................................... ix

Code for the Construction and Equipment of

Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk
Preamble ....................................................................................... 1

CHAPTER I – GENERAL
1.1 Purpose............................................................................... 3
1.2 Scope ................................................................................. 3
1.3 Hazards .............................................................................. 4
1.4 Definitions ........................................................................... 5
1.5 Equivalents .......................................................................... 7
1.6 Survey and certification......................................................... 7
1.7 Effective date ....................................................................... 13
1.8 New products ...................................................................... 14

CHAPTER II – CARGO CONTAINMENT

A – Physical protection (siting of cargo tanks;

floatability and damage stability)
2.1 General............................................................................... 15
2.2 Ship types ........................................................................... 16

B – Tank types
2.3 Installation ........................................................................... 20
2.4 Design and construction ....................................................... 20
2.5 Requirements for individual substances ................................... 20

C – Ship arrangements
2.6 Cargo segregation ................................................................ 21
2.7 Accommodation spaces ........................................................ 21

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Page
2.8 Cargo pump-rooms .............................................................. 22
2.9 Access to void spaces, cargo tanks and other
spaces in the cargo-tank area................................................. 23

D – Cargo transfer
2.10 Piping arrangements ............................................................. 23
2.11 Cargo-transfer control systems ............................................... 25
2.12 Ship’s cargo hoses................................................................ 25

E – Tank vent systems

2.13 General............................................................................... 26
2.14 Types of tank vent systems.................................................... 27

F – Cargo temperature control

2.15 General............................................................................... 29
2.16 Additional requirements ........................................................ 30

G – Materials of construction
2.17 General............................................................................... 30
2.18 Additional requirements – deleted.......................................... 31

H – Environmental control of vapour space in cargo

tanks and void spaces surrounding such tanks
2.19 General............................................................................... 31
2.20 Environmental control requirements for individual substances.... 32
2.21 Ballast tank arrangements...................................................... 33
2.22 Bilge pumping arrangements from spaces within
the cargo-tank area............................................................... 33
2.23 Pump and pipeline identification ............................................ 33

CHAPTER III – SAFETY EQUIPMENT AND RELATED CONSIDERATIONS

A – Ventilation in cargo-handling spaces

3.1 Spaces normally entered during cargo-handling operations ....... 34
3.2 Spaces not normally entered ................................................. 35

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Page

B – Electrical requirements in respect of flammable cargoes

3.3 General............................................................................... 35
3.4 Installations in spaces containing cargo tanks or pipes .............. 36
3.5 Installations in enclosed spaces immediately aft of,
forward of, or above the cargo-tank area ................................ 36
3.6 Installations on open decks ................................................... 36
3.7 Bonding .............................................................................. 37
3.8 Electrical requirements for individual substances ...................... 37

C – Gauging
3.9 General............................................................................... 37
3.10 Gauging for individual substances .......................................... 38

D – Vapour detection
3.11 General............................................................................... 38
3.12 Requirements for individual substances ................................... 38

E – Fire protection
3.13 Fire safety arrangements........................................................ 39
3.14 Fire-extinguishing arrangements for cargo-tank areas................. 40
3.15 Fire protection for ships built prior to 20 May 1980 ................. 42

F – Personnel protection
3.16 Requirements....................................................................... 43

G – Tank filling
3.17 General............................................................................... 46

CHAPTER IV – SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

4.1 Carbon disulphide ................................................................ 47
4.2 Diethyl ether........................................................................ 50
4.3 Sulphur (molten) .................................................................. 51

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Page
4.4 Acetone cyanohydrin and lactonitrile solution
(80% or less) ....................................................................... 51
4.5 Phosphorus, yellow or white.................................................. 52
4.6 Motor fuel anti-knock compounds (containing lead alkyls) ........ 53
4.7 Propylene oxide and mixtures of ethylene oxide/
propylene oxide with an ethylene oxide content of
not more than 30% by weight ............................................... 53
4.8 Acids .................................................................................. 59
4.9 Toxic products ..................................................................... 60
4.10 Cargoes protected by additives.............................................. 61
4.11 Cargoes which have a vapour pressure greater
than 1.033 kp/cm2 at 37.88C ................................................ 62
4.12 Materials of construction – deleted ........................................ 62
4.13 Cargo pump-rooms .............................................................. 62
4.14 Overflow control (Alternative 1)............................................. 63
4.14 Overflow control (Alternative 2)............................................. 64
4.15 Cargo contamination ............................................................ 65
4.16 Samples taken from chemical cargoes .................................... 66
4.17 Respiratory and eye protection .............................................. 66
4.18 Cargoes not to be exposed to excessive heat.......................... 66
4.19 Ammonium nitrate solution, 93% or less................................. 67
4.20 Hydrogen peroxide solutions ................................................. 68
4.21 Sodium chlorate solution, 50% or less .................................... 72
4.22 Alkyl (C7 – C9) nitrates, all isomers......................................... 73
4.23 Temperature sensors............................................................. 73

CHAPTER V – OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

5.1 Maximum allowable quantity of cargo per tank ....................... 74
5.2 Cargo information ................................................................ 74
5.3 Personnel training................................................................. 75
5.4 Tank entry ........................................................................... 75
5.5 Openings in cargo tanks ....................................................... 76
5.6 Tank heating coil returns ....................................................... 76
5.7 Additional operational requirements ....................................... 76

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CHAPTER VA – ADDITIONAL MEASURES FOR THE PROTECTION

OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

5A.1–5A.3 – deleted ....................................................................... 77

CHAPTER VI – SUMMARY OF MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

CHAPTER VII – LIST OF CHEMICALS TO WHICH THE CODE

DOES NOT APPLY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

CHAPTER VIII – TRANSPORT OF LIQUID CHEMICAL WASTES

8.1 Preamble............................................................................. 82
8.2 Definitions ........................................................................... 82
8.3 Applicability ......................................................................... 82
8.4 Permitted shipments ............................................................. 83
8.5 Documentation .................................................................... 83
8.6 Classification of liquid chemical wastes ................................... 83
8.7 Carriage and handling of liquid chemical wastes ...................... 83

APPENDIX
Model form of Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage
of Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk....................................................... 84

Decisions of the MSC

Recommendation on uniform interpretation of the
application of 2.7.1 and 2.7.3 of the Bulk Chemical
Code to existing chemical tankers..................................................... 95

Guidelines for a uniform application of the

survival requirements of the Bulk Chemical Code
and the Gas Carrier Code................................................................ 98

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Page
Calculation of the capacity of the foam systems
for chemical tankers ........................................................................ 105
Resolution MSC.7(48) – Recommendation for
chemical tankers and gas carriers constructed
before 1 July 1986.......................................................................... 108

viii
 Foreword
This publication contains the Code for the Construction and Equipment of
Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk (BCH Code) and information
related to that Code. The Code was originally adopted in 1971 and was
altered by a series of amendments between 1972 and 1983 before an
amended version was adopted by the Marine Environment Protection
Committee (MEPC) in 1985 and by the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC)
in 1986. There have been further amendments, the most recent of which
were adopted by the MEPC by resolution MEPC.144(54) in March 2006
and by the MSC by resolution MSC.212(81) in May 2006. These came into
force on 1 August 2007.

This edition also includes amendments which were adopted by the MEPC by
resolution MEPC.41(29) which became effective on 3 February 2000; by
resolution MEPC.56(33) which became effective on 1 July 1994; by resolu-
tion MEPC.70(38) which became effective on 1 July 1998; by resolution
MEPC.80(43) which became effective on 1 July 2002 and by resolution
MEPC.91(45) which also became effective on 1 July 2002.
Chapters VI and VII of the BCH Code are now much shorter than in earlier
editions because they refer the user to chapters 17 and 18 of the IBC Code.

Under the provisions of Annex II of the International Convention for the

Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol
of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78), chemical tankers constructed
before 1 July 1986 must comply with this Code; those built on or after that
date must comply with the International Code for the Construction and
Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk (IBC Code) for
the purposes of MARPOL 73/78 and the International Convention for the
Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS 74).

ix
Code for the Construction and Equipment
of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals
in Bulk (BCH Code)
 Preamble
1 The purpose of the Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships
Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk (BCH Code) is to provide an inter-
national standard for the safe carriage of dangerous and noxious chemicals in
bulk by prescribing the constructional features of ships, regardless of their
tonnage, involved in such carriage and the equipment they should carry so as
to minimize the risk to the ship, to its crew and to the environment, having
regard to the nature of the products involved.
2 The basic philosophy is to assign to each chemical tanker one of the
ship types according to the degree of the hazards of the products carried by
such ship. Each of the products may have one or more hazard properties,
which include flammability, toxicity and reactivity as well as the hazard they
may present to the environment if accidentally released.
3 Throughout the development of the Code it was recognized that it
must be based upon sound naval architectural and engineering principles and
the best understanding available as to the hazards of the various products
covered; furthermore that chemical tanker design technology is not only a
complex technology but is rapidly evolving and that the Code should not
remain static. Therefore the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will
periodically review the Code, taking into account both experience and
technical development.
4 Amendments to the Code involving requirements for new products
and their conditions of carriage will be circulated from time to time as
recommendations, on an interim basis, when adopted by the Maritime Safety
Committee (MSC) and the Marine Environment Protection Committee
(MEPC) of the Organization, in accordance with the provisions of article 16
of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
(MARPOL 73/78), pending the entry into force of these amendments.
5 The Code primarily deals with ship design and equipment. In order to
ensure the safe transport of the products, the total system must, however, be
appraised. Other important facets of the safe transport of the products, such
as training, operation, traffic control and handling in port, are being or will be
examined further by the Organization.
6 Chapter VI of the Code, dealing with operational requirements of
chemical tankers, highlights the regulations in other chapters that are

1
Preamble

applicable and mentions those other important safety features that are
peculiar to chemical tanker operation. The summary of minimum require-
ments of the products covered by the Code is set out in chapter 17 of the
International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying
Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk (IBC Code). Cross-references to the IBC and
BCH Codes are provided in chapter VI of this publication.

7 The Code has been revised to reflect the 2007 revision of MARPOL
Annex II.